Thug who poured boiling liquid on defenceless King Charles Spaniel Daisy locked up

Daisy the King Charles spaniel and Mark Simon Sharp who pleaded guilty to animal cruelty

A thug who poured boiling liquid on a defenceless King Charles Spaniel has been locked up.

Mark Simon Sharp, 34, had also left the dog, named Daisy, with nine broken ribs and a broken pelvis over months of secret abuse.

Daisy, who belonged to Sharp’s horrified then-partner, Lyndsey Wakefield, suffered full thickness burns to her head and body and was left cowering away from human contact.

Sharp, of no fixed address, was jailed for 16 weeks at Liverpool Magistrates’ Court today after earlier pleading guilty to animal cruelty.

Speaking after the case, RSPCA inspector Claire Fisher told the Echo the case was one of the worst she had investigated in 13 years on the job.

She said: “I’m just very pleased that the courts have taken these vile acts seriously. This dog suffered for months at Sharp’s hands, and the moment I first saw her there was no way I was getting close to her.

This is a breed that is so loving and wants human contact but she was cowering in the back of the kennel.”

Peter Mitchell, prosecuting on behalf of the RSPCA, told the court Inspector Fisher was made aware of the case on January 12 by a vet concerned over the burns on Daisy’s head and body.

He said: “On seeing the dog it was on strong pain relief and appeared very nervous and was shaking in the kennel.

“When (Insp Fisher) attempted to touch the dog she cowered away and snapped. The inspector described seeing an extensive scabbed area over the top of the head and neck with a particularly raw area at the middle of the top of the head. She was advised that the burns were full skin thickness.”

The court heard Inspector Fisher was made aware of concerns relating to two other occasions in June and December last year, when the broken bones were discovered.

Sharp, formerly a well known DJ in Moreton, Wirral, claimed he had accidentally caused the injuries by standing on Daisy and pulling on her lead

However Mr Mitchell read evidence from RSPCA vet Dr Sean Taylor, who said the injuries were similar to those normally seen in a road traffic collision.

He told the court: “Dr Taylor notes that the ribs are designed to protect vital organs and therefore are good at absorbing energy and difficult to break.

“He goes on to indicate that due to the fact that there are rib fractures on either side, it is his opinion that they would not have occurred at the same time as indicated by the defendant in his interview but on separate occasions.”

The case had been delayed after Sharp made court based police officers aware that he had been threatened on the way into the building ahead of his sentence.